It was known that scenes occurred between the husband and wife which were not of the order admitted as among the methods of polite society.

One evening Mrs.Osborn walked slowly down the Mall dressed in her best gown and hat, and bearing on her cheek a broad, purpling mark.

When asked questions, she merely smiled and made no answer, which was extremely awkward for the well-meaning inquirer.
The questioner was the wife of the colonel of the regiment, and when the lady related the incident to her husband in the evening, he drew in his breath sharply and summed the situation up in a few words.
"That little woman," he said, "lives every day through twenty-four hours of hell.

One can see it in her eyes, even when she professes to smile at the brute for decency's sake.

The awfulness of a woman's forced smile at the devil she is tied to, loathing him and bearing in her soul the thing, blood itself could not wipe out.